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Topic: My frist experience with Cheddar (Read 367 times)

I made two cheddar, one two month ago and the other only two weeks ago. I write down the recipe even though is identical to the Dixon one.Cheddar10 l raw milk.Heat milk to 30 ° C Add mesophilic lactic starter cultureRipen with culture for 1 hour for bulk cultureAdd rennet for flocculation 12-15 minutes and multiply this times 3 to get the time from adding rennet to cutting the curd, e.g. 12 min. x 3 = 36 min.Cut into pea-sized particlesSettle curds after cutting for 2-3 minutes to heal the curd surfacesStir and heat curds to 35 ° C in 30 minutes Continue stirring and heating to 39° F in 15 minutes Cook at 39 ° F for 45-60 minutes until the curds bounce off your hand and feel like pellets and are springy when squeezedSettle curds under the whey for 15 minutes.Move curds slowly to the back of the vat to form a pack Drain off the whey and form a trench in the middle of the pack to let the whey escape from the curds. Cheddaring:Wait ten minutes and cut the pack into four slabs. Put the slabs one over the other and packed them with a cloth to maintain the moisture. Maintain the temperature at 35 ° C (I put it in the oven with a light)Turn the slabs over after 15 minutes . Repeat several times. When the whey is pH 5.3-5.mill the slabs of curd into pieces 1 inch x 2 inches.Wait ten minutes and add salt. Use coarse flake salt at rate 2- 3 % of curd. Add all of the salt in 2 equal portions Wait 5-10 minutes between each addition. The idea is to let enough salt dissolve into the curds before hooping the curds and pressing them into blocks or wheels.Gather the curds into the forms (blocks or hoops) lined with cheesecloth and move to the press.Press with 142 kg for 30 minutes and 190 kg by the next morning. Bandaged the chees with gauze and the paint with melted salad butter.Press for other 12 hours with 192 kgRemove from the press and take the cheese out of the forms. Age These are the photos of the two cheddar: The first cheddar was painted with paraffin. When I made it I haven´t got my press yet so it received only 40 kg for 30 minutes and 70 kg for 20 hours. I noticed the pieces of curd did not sticked together but after ageing, it for two month I did not noticed this defect anymore. I took it out the cellar because I saw fruit flies around it; I have not protect it with mosquitoes clothes because I believe the paraffin would keep them out. The cheese really taste very well, my husband says it´s the best cheese I´ve ever made!!!The second one is in the cellar.